PotatoDid Edgar help Jake? NoDid he help somebody else? YesWas Jake a witness of Edgar's help? NoDid Edgar make Jake help him help somebody else (What a sentence... Help...)? Hee. I followed it - and No.

Was there a problem in the first place? YesWas the thing Edgar considered a problem meant to be the way it was? Yes

-- their profession -- their nationality -- their religion -- their place of birth ?

Are they related? (How to put this... Is E related to J? M? N? Is J related to M? N? Is M related to N?)

Relevant when the event happened? Location relevant? If so, location as in country/town? Or maybe as in a geographical feature, such as in the mountains or at the seaside? Or maybe as in a type of building / type of vehicle?

You said not all four were in eyeshot of each other -- were there at least two of them? Three of them? If so: E & J? E & M? E & N? J & M? J & N? M & N?

Are any of this relevant for E, J, M or N: -- their profession Yes for all four.-- their nationality No-- their religion No-- their place of birth No

Are they related? No one in this puzzle is releated to anyone else in this puzzle. :D

Relevant when the event happened? NoLocation relevant? Yes!If so, location as in country/town? NoOr maybe as in a geographical feature, such as in the mountains or at the seaside? NoOr maybe as in a type of building / type of vehicle? Yes, building.

You said not all four were in eyeshot of each other -- Edgar, Mike and Nick were all in the same place when the "problem" happened. Jake was not.

Jake was embarrassed afterward. Were there similar repercussions for the other 3 men? Was there laughter? Was there a "I'm gonna get you for that!" or a "Well, at least we know not to do that next time!"?

Was one of them involved in law enforcement? YES!! Three of them to be exact - Jake, Mike and Nickthe judicial system? Nocriminal law? No

Was one of them involved in a "safe" industry such as running a shop or managing a grocery store? Nope

Was one of them a certain kind of doctor? NoOkay, now I'm boring myself. :D Hey, I was greatly entertained by 'butt doctor'. :P

Edgar saw a problem and jumped in to help it. yesDid this embarrass one of the other guys, because one of the other guys should have known how to help? No

Did one of the men have an allergy, which Edgar fixed? NoDid one have a sneezing attack? NoDid one have to pose for a photo, but for some reason could not keep his face straight? No

Did Edgar have a Seeing Eye dog, who was brought to the occasion to help, but it turned messy? No (also, eww)

Is the physical layout of the room important? No

Precisely how many people were in the room, when this incident happened? Unsure, let's say Edgar, Nick and Mike and 20 others.

Was the incident something that they could all laugh about, later? Perhaps.

Was the incident so awful that they could no longer be friends? Not relevant

I am stumped. And I'm enjoying this! Good! These are supposed to be fun, even when challenging. You made a good breakthrough with your first question. Might help figure out the location and specifics about Edgar.

Edgar was only trying to help. He saw a problem and jumped right in to correct it. Jake ended up being very embarrassed by Edgar’s “help”. Why?

Edgar embarrassed Jake by rescuing/helping Mike and Nick.

Mike, Nick, and Jake all share a profession and work together. It is something like law enforcement.

Edgar does not share this profession.

Jake was embarrassed because he was responsible for the “problem” Edgar fixed and Edgar should not have been the one fixing it. Jake was also responsible for the safety of those inside the building where this took place.

I don’t know why this one has died such a slow death, but there aren’t any more hints I can give and we don’t seem to be moving forward. I rarely do this, but…

***** SPOILER *****

Based on a true story. Edgar is an inmate at a county jail. One day a fight breaks out between two guards and Edgar steps in and breaks up the fight. Jake, the director of the facility, is embarrassed to have the media get wind of his staff fighting on the job and doubly so when one of the inmates they are supposed to be guarding had to break up the fight. Reportedly, the fight was over a bag of chips.